"I went to Morenci schools and graduated there. I think my favorite teacher was in third grade. (laughs) She was Miss Fraide and when she taught us math, we'd have a little store and because there was always 3a and 3b, it was always divided like that, we were 3b. (laughs) The other grades would come and we would play store and sell them [things] and give the change. She would teach us a lot of little things. Like I remember when we made little umbrellas with a cork and then put a candy stick into the cork. It was a stick like the holder of the candy, a lollypop stick. We stuck it into the little cork and then put toothpicks all around. She had real pretty paper flowers and we made a little umbrella. I remember all those things. She had a lot of nice ideas for crafts. She made our learning fun.

I was real good in Algebra [in high school]. Now I can't add or nothing! (laughs) I was with Mr. Stark. He was real good at teaching Algebra. I was good in Algebra, now I don't know a thing about it. I liked home ec too."

"My cousins [were my friends when I was a child]. (laughs) I got to be good [friends] with Lina, Josie, and Nati. We'd all get together. We loved to go to the post office. (laughs) We would even walk in the rain to go to the post office [located in the Morenci Hotel}.

They would put a bucket there in the center and somebody would kick it as hard as they could and everybody would go hide. That guy that was it, [was] supposed to go get the bucket, put it back where it was supposed to be, and then go and look for us. Somebody could sneak in and kick the bucket (laughs) and he'd have to come back and put it back where it was supposed to be. [There was] not really [a level place to play]. (laughs) There was always something a little level. The guys that were older, a girl and boy would sneak away and we couldn't find them! (laughs) I must have been thirteen or something like that [when we played kick the bucket], real young kids. [We used] just an old can.

I remember my brothers and the boys would get cans and kind of squished them, smash them, and put them on their feet, their shoes I guess. They would walk with those cans. (laughs) They would make stilts. My brothers would make their own kites and fly kites. You know those things they have now, that wire that's twisted around? With a tobacco can, they would make like a little ring. They'd make a hole in it [the can] and put a wire there and make it go [like] a wheel. With a twisted wire, there was two wires twisted like that and they would cut out that tobacco and they would make a little ring, sort of like that [a figure eight]. It had sort of a hole in the center and they would put that thing and phoom, it would shoot up. Those guns they would make with wood and then with a rubber band. [They made it] with a clothespin. They would have a lot of fun doing that. We didn't even need to go buy expensive toys then. My kids would like to play with the pots and pans instead of their little toys.

When I was a kid I used to have to help a lot in the house. My mother, not like me, (laughs) she liked to have her house to be clean. I remember one of my chores was dusting all the furniture. She taught me how to embroider. She would have me there embroidering the scarves they put on the top of the dressers. Then she would crochet the edges. She was good at art because she would draw a basket with flowers or fruit and I had to embroider it. She kept me busy. I wanted to be outside playing with my brothers because all I had were brothers (laughs) for a long time. I wanted to be out there with them but she wanted me to be a lady (laughs). She made me embroider things.

[When my parents were still alive my brothers had to] chop wood and do boys' things. I didn't have to do anything about the wood. My brothers would chop the wood and bring it into the house. But I did have to help in the house, clean, the dishes, and dust and things like that.

We had a wood burning [heater]. I remember one time that was when my mom and my dad already had died and I was living with my sister and my brothers. One time at night, I didn't have that heater; I just had the wood stove in the kitchen. When it was time to go to bed, both my sister and myself ran to get under the covers. We forgot to turn off the light. (laughs) I kept saying, "Sara, go turn off the light." "No, you go turn it off." We kept on and then the light turned off by itself! (laughs) We just covered up and didn't say a word anymore. I said, "Mother did it for us!" That's what I told Sara. (laughs)

You were supposed to obey your mother and father. You weren't supposed to contradict or anything. We got spanked when we did things wrong."